Tuesday, May 31, 2011

COMMENTARY | When it comes to social networking, Facebook and Twitter are extremely popular avenues for people to explore. While Facebook allows users to post pictures easily from wherever they are, when Twitter users want to upload a picture, they have to turn to third-party applications like yfrog or Twit pic. However, Twitter is apparently moving to launch an official photo sharing service very soon. Sharing pictures in a tweet stream is fairly popular activity, and it really makes sense that the folks at Twitter would want to have everybody using their service, instead of a third part app.

Most of the third-party applications were easy enough to use; however, many novice users likely found themselves logging in and logging out at a pretty good clip just to leave a comment. Still, the overwhelming majority of Twitter photo sharing tools were good, but they lacked the polish of Facebook. Not that Twitter and Facebook are identical, but they have a lot in common, and when Twitter gets around to offering its own photo sharing service, which could be as early as this week, it will be a sign that the social network child is really starting to grow up.

While Facebook boasts more than 500 million user accounts, Twitter has around 200 million users. The micro-blogging platform, Twitter, offers users the ability to be as visible or invisible as they desire. While an in-house photo sharing application will likely mean less traffic and use for third-party apps, the move would bring Twitter one step closer to mimicking the experience users experience on Facebook.

It is that mimicry that could win over users fed up with Facebook privacy problems and other issues. Twitter could win some users and might even make some money, but would unlikely make a huge dent in the empire of Mark Zuckerberg.

As Twitter matures and adds services, the company will undoubtedly grow. While many users contribute status updates to both major social media companies for now, that process may grow tiresome as the features of each site begin to grow closer and closer together.

Twitter no doubt has eyes on some of the market share possessed by Facebook, and one has to wonder how many changes will be necessary until they start to capture some of that audience. While it is not likely to happen anytime soon, things move pretty fast in cyberspace. Does anybody remember MySpace?

Jason Gallagher is a former travel professional and long-time Pennsylvania resident. These experiences give him a first-hand look at developing situations in the state and everything included in the travel industry from technology to trends.

Anthony Weiner is the epitome of a career politician. He put in his time after college working for future Sen. Chuck Schumer then won a seat on the New York City Council. In 1998, he ran for Congress in New York's 9th Congressional District and won. He has been reelected ever since.

Weiner has an account on the social media website Twitter. His verified account is @repweiner. He follows 198 people, which means the tweets from those accounts appear in his Twitter stream. Last Friday, he followed a mere 91 people. More than 100 have been added since the following scandal erupted.

On Friday night, his Twitter stream sent one of the people he follows a link to a photo. It was a lewd image. The tweet was noticed by some of his followers and the link was forwarded.

Weiner has been on the defensive ever since. He states his account was hacked. The college coed the link was sent to denies any relationship with the congressman. So, why is this incident turning in to a scandal?

Political bloggers have seized upon the tweet and the statements made by the parties involved and have spent a great deal of time dissecting them on their sites. Weiner has retained a lawyer to determine what course of action to pursue and has not, at this point, reported the hack to the police. In the last several days, the coed's Twitter account has gone private.

Among the original 91 people the congressman followed were many young women. The coed the picture link was sent to lives in the Seattle area and just before the picture link was sent the congressman tweeted a comment that referred to Seattle. A timeline prepared by one blogger illustrates the Twitter behavior as was visible publicly. The congressman's current Twitter stream clearly shows he was using Twitter just before the picture link was sent and right after.

Weiner represents a solidly Democratic congressional district. In the seven elections that he has been a candidate in, two were uncontested, and he won the other five with vote totals ranging from 59 percent to 73 percent. This is a safe seat for House Democrats.

Millions of people use Twitter every day. This story will continue to gain traction until the congressman is able to convince the average Twitter user how the account was hacked and why he is choosing not to pursue a police investigation. As it is, blogs and the users of Twitter do not seem to believe his explanation.

Upstate New York resident Charles Simmins brings 30 years of accounting and finance experience and a keen interest in military affairs to the news of the day. His years of experience working with the personnel of the Secretary of Defense's New Media activity on Bloggers' Roundtables provide insights often overlooked by other reporters.

Monday, May 30, 2011

COMMENTARY | The smartphone is what's called a convergence device: It's where multiple different gadgets converge, becoming one. And I've got apps on my Android smartphone that turn it into a camera, a camcorder, an MP3 player, a calculator, and even a flashlight.

Most of you already know that smartphones are starting to replace these gadgets. But you may be surprised at the territory our phones are now encroaching on:

A hatch on the back lets you plug your phone into the much larger tablet, where it presumably serves as the tablet's processor -- and camera, thanks to a hole in the hatch. The two will apparently be sold as a package, and it's that package deal that may be the selling point. Why buy just a tablet when you can get a phone to go with it as well? Plus, the tablet could recharge your phone.

4. Laptops

This one you may have already seen, thanks to its commercials which feature a man explaining himself to the TSA's grope squad. The Motorola Atrix smartphone has an optional $150 laptop dock with a touchpad and keyboard and much larger screen.

The Atrix's problem is its execution. It isn't a phone that turns into a laptop, as the commercials would have you believe. Its accessory is a laptop that only works with your expensive phone plugged into it. It costs half as much as a netbook, but it does less than half; it can only run the Firefox web browser, and it runs that poorly. (I saw it crash while a salesperson demonstrated it, which doesn't bode well.)

3. Desktop PCs

Hat tip to the Atrix again, as it also has optional accessories that turn it into a desktop computer. These include a keyboard and a dock that has three USB ports and an HDMI port. Again, you can't use it for anything more than web browsing and Android apps. But darned if it isn't one of the smallest, cheapest, most energy-efficient desktop computers out there.

2. DVR

The Atrix can't actually record live TV, but it can play back movies on your big screen. And that desktop dock works a lot better when you've got it hooked up to your HDTV (according to Engadget). Remote control? Check. Sleek, Front Row-style interface? Check. Why Apple is selling Apple TVs, and not an Apple TV app for iPhones, the world may never know.

1. Game console

You probably already know that the iPhone and iPod Touch are making inroads into the handheld gaming market. And you probably also know that the Xperia Play is Sony's first "PlayStation Certified" Android smartphone, with a slide-out game controller, PlayStation Network access, and a store with exclusive games.

So why not go all the way and make it so you can connect your phone to your TV and play your games on it? Oh wait -- you can! With the iPad 2, at least -- and you can bet Apple's looking for ways to bring that feature to its iPod and iPhone lines.

Is this for real?

Given examples like the Atrix? Not yet it isn't. But give it time -- the GPS companies didn't see smartphones coming either.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Iran is taking steps toward an aggressive new form of censorship: a so-called national Internet that could, in effect, disconnect Iranian cyberspace from the rest of the world.
The leadership in Iran sees the project as a way to end the fight for control of the Internet, according to observers of Iranian policy inside and outside the country. Iran, already among the most sophisticated nations in online censoring, also promotes its national Internet as a cost-saving measure for consumers and as a way to uphold Islamic moral codes.
In February, as pro-democracy protests spread rapidly across the Middle East and North Africa, Reza Bagheri Asl, director of the telecommunication ministry's research institute, told an Iranian news agency that soon 60% of the nation's homes and businesses would be on the new, internal network. Within two years it would extend to the entire country, he said.

The unusual initiative appears part of a broader effort to confront what the regime now considers a major threat: an online invasion of Western ideas, culture and influence, primarily originating from the U.S. In recent speeches, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials have called this emerging conflict the "soft war."
On Friday, new reports emerged in the local press that Iran also intends to roll out its own computer operating system in coming months to replace Microsoft Corp.'s Windows. The development, which couldn't be independently confirmed, was attributed to Reza Taghipour, Iran's communication minister.
Iran's national Internet will be "a genuinely halal network, aimed at Muslims on an ethical and moral level," Ali Aghamohammadi, Iran's head of economic affairs, said recently according to a state-run news service. Halal means compliant with Islamic law.
Mr. Aghamohammadi said the new network would at first operate in parallel to the normal Internet—banks, government ministries and large companies would continue to have access to the regular Internet. Eventually, he said, the national network could replace the global Internet in Iran, as well as in other Muslim countries.
A spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations declined to comment further, saying the matter is a "technical question about the scientific progress of the country."
There are many obstacles. Even for a country isolated economically from the West by sanctions, the Internet is an important business tool. Limiting access could hinder investment from Russia, China and other trading partners. There's also the matter of having the expertise and resources for creating Iranian equivalents of popular search engines and websites, like Google.
Few think that Iran could completely cut its links to the wider Internet. But it could move toward a dual-Internet structure used in a few other countries with repressive regimes.

Myanmar said last October that public Internet connections would run through a separate system controlled and monitored by a new government company, accessing theoretically just Myanmar content. It's introducing alternatives to popular websites including an email service, called Ymail, as a replacement for Google Inc.'s Gmail.

Cuba, too, has what amounts to two Internets—one that connects to the outside world for tourists and government officials, and the other a closed and monitored network, with limited access, for public use. North Korea is taking its first tentative steps into cyberspace with a similar dual network, though with far fewer people on a much more rudimentary system.
Iran has a developed Internet culture, and blogs play a prominent role—even President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has one.
Though estimates vary, about 11 of every 100 Iranians are online, according to the International Telecommunication Union, among the highest percentages among comparable countries in the region. Because of this, during the protests following 2009's controversial presidential election, the world was able to follow events on the ground nearly live, through video and images circulated on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere.
"It might not be possible to cut off Iran and put it in a box," said Fred Petrossian, who fled Iran in the 1990s and is now online editor of Radio Farda, which is Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Iranian news service. "But it's what they're working on."
The discovery last year of the sophisticated "Stuxnet" computer worm that apparently disrupted Iran's nuclear program has added urgency to the Internet initiative, Iran watchers say. Iran believes the Stuxnet attack was orchestrated by Israel and the U.S.
"The regime no longer fears a physical attack from the West," said Mahmood Enayat, director of the Iran media program at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communications. "It still thinks the West wants to take over Iran, but through the Internet."
The U.S. State Department's funding of tools to circumvent Internet censorship, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent speeches advocating Internet freedom, have reinforced Iran's perceptions, these people said.
Iran got connected to the Internet in the early 1990s, making it the first Muslim nation in the Middle East online, and the second in the region behind Israel. Young, educated and largely centered in cities, Iranians embraced the new technology.
Authorities first encouraged Internet use, seeing it as a way to spread Islamic and revolutionary ideology and to support science and technology research. Hundreds of private Internet service providers emerged. Nearly all of them connected through Data Communications Iran, or DCI, the Internet arm of the state telecommunications monopoly.
The mood changed in the late 1990s, when Islamic hardliners pushed back against the more open policies of then-president Mohammad Khatami. The subsequent shuttering of dozens of so-called reformist newspapers had the unintended effect of triggering the explosion of the Iranian blogosphere. Journalists who had lost their jobs went online. Readers followed.
Authorities struck back. In 2003, officials announced plans to block more than 15,000 websites, according to a report by the OpenNet Initiative, a collaboration of several Western universities. The regime began arresting bloggers.
Iran tried to shore up its cyber defenses in other ways, including upgrading its filtering system, for the first time using only Iranian technology. Until around 2007, the country had relied on filtering gear from U.S. companies, obtained through third countries and sometimes involving pirated versions, including Secure Computing Corp.'s SmartFilter, as well as products from Juniper Networks Inc. and Fortinet Inc., according to Iranian engineers familiar with with the filtering.
Such products are designed primarily to combat malware and viruses, but can be used to block other things, such as websites. Iranian officials several years ago designed their own filtering system—based on what they learned from the illegally obtained U.S. products—so they could service and upgrade it on their own, according to the Iranian engineers.
A Fortinet spokesman said he was unaware of any company products in Iran, adding that the company doesn't sell to embargoed countries, nor do its resellers. McAfee Inc., which owns Secure Computing, said no contract or support was provided to Iran. Intel Corp. recently bought McAfee, which added that it can now disable its technology obtained by embargoed countries. A Juniper spokesman said the company has a "strict policy of compliance with U.S. export law," and hasn't sold products to Iran.
The notion of an Iran-only Internet emerged in 2005 when Mr. Ahmadinejad became president. Officials experimented with pilot programs using a closed network serving more than 3,000 Iranian public schools as well as 400 local offices of the education ministry.
The government in 2008 allocated $1 billion to continue building the needed infrastructure. "The national Internet will not limit access for users," Abdolmajid Riazi, then-deputy director of communication technology in the ministry of telecommunications, said of the project that year. "It will instead empower Iran and protect its society from cultural invasion and threats."
Iran's government has also argued that an Iranian Internet would be cheaper for users. Replacing international data traffic with domestic traffic could cut down on hefty international telecom costs.
The widespread violence following Iran's deeply divisive presidential election in June 2009 exposed the limits of Iran's Internet control—strengthening the case for replacing the normal Internet with a closed, domestic version. In one of the most dramatic moments of the crisis, video showing the apparent shooting death of a female student, Neda Agha-Soltan, circulated globally and nearly in real time.

More Censorship Inc.

U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web (03/28/2011)

Some of the holes in Iran's Internet security blanket were punched by sympathetic people working within it. According to one former engineer at DCI, the government Internet company, during the 2009 protests he would block some prohibited websites only partially—letting traffic through to the outside world.
Since the 2009 protests, the government has ratcheted up its online repression. "Countering the soft war is the main priority for us today," Mr. Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, said November 2009 in a speech to members of the Basij, a pro-government paramilitary volunteer group. "In a soft war the enemy tries to make use of advanced and cultural and communication tools to spread lies and rumors."
The Revolutionary Guard, a powerful branch of the Iranian security forces, has taken the lead in the virtual fight. In late 2009, the Guard acquired a majority stake of the state telecom monopoly that owns DCI. That put all of Iran's communications networks under Revolutionary Guard control.
The Guard has created a "Cyber Army" as part of an effort to train more than 250,000 computer hackers. It recently took credit for attacks on Western sites including Voice of America, the U.S. government-funded international broadcasting service. And at the telecom ministry, work has begun on a national search engine called "Ya Hagh," or "Oh, Justice," as a possible alternative to popular search engines like Google and Yahoo

It's true that not all Android apps are ugly. But if you spend awhile using an Android smartphone or tablet, then switch to an iPhone or iPad, you can see the difference: iOS apps don't just look shinier, they work better and are easier to use. Even when an app is available for both iPhone and Android, the iPhone one usually looks better.

Why does this happen, and should it be a concern if you're thinking of buying an Android smartphone?

Low barrier to entry

Writing apps for the iPhone or iPad costs $99 per year, if you want to put your apps on the App Store. You use a language called Objective-C, that's only used to write Mac and iOS apps, and every app you write will be screened by Apple before being placed in its store.

Judging by some of the crud on the App Store, this process doesn't weed out enough apps. But writing an app for the Android Market is much easier: You pay a $25 flat fee to put your apps on the Market, plus $20 if you want to charge for them. And you use a language called Java, that's widely taught in college and fairly easy to learn. Since it's easier to start writing Android apps, there are a lot more "amateur" apps on the Market.

Less money to be made

The Android Market is growing fast, both in terms of how many apps are on it and in terms of how much money there is to be made from selling apps. Despite that, though, Android developers are only making a tiny fraction of the money that's being made on the iTunes App Store. In fact, the biggest metric where the Market beats the App Store is its number of free apps.

There are people making money from Android apps -- sometimes, more than on the App Store. That's not the case for most people, though, which means it's not exactly the first stop for a dedicated developer who wants to make money.

IPhone and iPad app developers basically only have one screen size to worry about for each device. (The iPhone 4's Retina Display increased the screen resolution, but it exactly doubled it on each side, which made scaling the graphics up a lot easier.) Because of this, they can treat the screen as a canvas, and know what their apps will look like for everybody who uses them.

Android developers, on the other hand, have to write apps both for my HTC Aria -- about the size of an iPhone -- and for monster phones like the Droid, which have bigger screens and much higher resolutions. And since a lot of Android phones have slider keyboards, they have to make sure their apps work when you hold the phone sideways as well. If they don't account for every phone that their apps will run on, they either leave out a huge chunk of their market, or get angry reviews from people whose phones won't run their apps.

Different strokes?

Ask yourself this. If you're a designer, who owns a Mac and wants to create things of lasting beauty and utility -- and charge money for them -- which kind of phone are you going to write apps for? Which kind are you going to buy?

Again, I'm not saying there are no beautiful Android apps. But there are more of them for the iPhone and iPad, and they're why people love them so much.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

We should've known this was coming. The Kindle may have made it to the gate first, but pretty soon Barnes and Noble had the Nook, with its mini-color touch screen. Then came the iPad and Nook Color, and now more people are reading on color touch screens, and expecting games and apps and things like that.

Now the rumors are in, and it sounds like Amazon is planning to enter the tablet market "with a bang." So what does it look like the future Kindle tablet will be like?

Android under the hood

This one's a gimme, for several reasons.

First, the Android operating system is open source, which basically means anyone can take it and do what they want with it. Including, say use it to get a head start in making a tablet. (Want to look at the programming code? Knock yourself out.) The tablet version of Android isn't open-source yet, but that hasn't stopped Barnes and Noble, which stretched the smartphone version of Android to fit on the Nook Color -- not that you'd recognize it after all the streamlining that B&N did.

Second, and this is the big one, Amazon's already got a lot invested in Android. And I don't just mean its Amazon.com and Amazon MP3 apps in the Android Market. See, there's an Amazon Appstore for Android, which actually competes with the Android Market. And the new Amazon Cloud Drive service lets you get to the MP3s you buy from Amazon.com from anywhere -- like, say, your Android smartphone, from the app that lets you do that.

Google plays hardball with its competitors, and can block them from installing official Google apps (which aren't open-source) on their devices. I'm betting Amazon feels it doesn't need them, especially with its own app store and music store.

"Medium" and "Large" sizes

Boy Genius Report supposedly got a tip that says Amazon's working on dual-core and quad-core tablets, code named "Coyote" and "Hollywood." Coyote's supposedly a Tegra 2 device -- that's Android Enthusiast speak for "really powerful." Hollywood's supposedly going to use the upcoming Kal-El platform, and if the fact that it's named after Superman doesn't tip you off, BGR reports that it may be five times more powerful than Coyote's processor.

Price and release date

As with all of the rest of this, it's still up in the air and nothing but rumor. But PCMag's Tim Bajarin says a tipster told him that Coyote (probably not the name it'll sell under) will be a 7-inch tablet that'll cost $349, while Hollywood will be a 10-inch tablet that costs $449. Both will supposedly be available "before 2011 ends."

These prices could just be wishful thinking, but Barnes and Noble did manage to sell a 7-inch tablet for $249. Maybe Amazon's making these tablets minimalist, like the Nook Color? And the release date seems likely, as it gives Amazon plenty of time to prepare for the holiday season -- and hopefully, for them, to upstage whatever Nook that Barnes and Noble comes out with next.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Apple likes to say "There's an app for that." But now Google's released Google Wallet, which it says is "an Android app that makes your phone your wallet."

Confused? Well, think of it this way. In the same way that credit cards, gift cards, and store loyalty cards replaced carrying cash around, Google's trying to replace all your plastic cards with virtual ones, tied to an app on your phone.

How does that work?

It uses a technology called Near-Field Communication, which is a fancy way of saying "You wave your phone at things and stuff happens." In this case, credit card payments -- plus store check-ins and things that tie into Google's new Groupon-style offering, Google Offers.

So, wait. Couldn't I accidentally pay for something just by getting my phone near the sensor?

No. First, the way Google does NFC with Google Wallet, you don't just put your phone near the sensor; you physically tap it onto it. And second, you have to enter a PIN number first. It's basically like making a credit card payment, but you enter a PIN on your phone instead of signing your name on a PIN pad. And you keep the card in your Google Wallet, instead of your physical wallet.

Is it safe to use virtual credit cards, though?

It'd better be, because we've kinda been using them for years!

Huh?

A credit card isn't like the key to your car, in that you need the actual card to make payments. It's more like the sticky note above your monitor, with the password for your email. It's basically a reminder sheet that has your credit card number written down on it, plus your security code and other info.

They usually need outside data like your signature to complete a transaction, and of course the data's also encoded on their magnetic strips and/or "smart card" chips. But the point is, a thief doesn't need your physical credit card to steal your identity ... just your credit card number, and a few other pieces of information. And Google keeps your credit card info safe in a separate chip called the Secure Element, where no one can get to it except the merchants who receive your payment info.

No, Google isn't a telemarketing scam artist company. It's an advertising company. That's why it gives everything out for free: The more Google services you use, the more Google knows about you, and the more "targeted" its ads are. How much do you think it would help Google if it knows everything that you're buying?

That's definitely worrisome ...

True. Which may be one reason why it's letting you earn loyalty rewards with Google Wallet, at companies like Subway and Toys R' Us. Google's good at the "giving stuff out for free" part of its business.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

The iPad 2 has over 65,000 apps for it in the App Store, and every one of those is a feature -- most of which aren't shared by tablets that run Google's Android operating system. There are still few tablet apps in the Android Market.

There's a greater variety of Android tablets themselves, though, and each one has some signature feature the iPad doesn't -- and probably won't -- have. Here are a few examples.

Don't think this one matters? You'd be surprised how much it does. Movies look better and waste less screen space, and typing is easier in both orientations. Laid out in landscape mode, the Xoom gives your fingers more room to type; held in portrait mode, it's easier to type with your thumbs. I seriously considered buying a Xoom just because I liked its design (insert joke about my lack of taste here).

Admittedly, it looks a bit silly to hold a Xoom in portrait mode. But there's no better way to play Air Attack HD.

Common wisdom says that if your tablet has a stylus, you're doing it wrong. And at $499 plus $80 for the stylus, the Flyer is definitely a niche product.

But while everyone else is making their tablets to be "better" than the iPad, the Flyer is unapologetically better for some people than the iPad is. There may still be few tablet apps available for it, but HTC appears to have put a lot of work into the Flyer's built-in apps -- like its book reader that lets you annotate and its handwritten notetaking app that syncs with Evernote.

Incidentally, the Flyer also serves as an OnLive game console, if you've got a controller handy. That's one feature the iPad's not likely to pick up for awhile.

There are a lot of keyboards available for the iPad, including cases that try to transform the iPad into a laptop. The Asus Eee Transformer was designed with this idea in mind, though, the same way the iPad 2 was made to work with its Smart Cover. The laptop dock plugs into the Transformer, and even extends its battery life.

The Transformer includes its own iWork-style office suite that's made to work with the keyboard, plus a multi-touch laptop-style touchpad letting you select things onscreen without reaching up to tap the glass. And with the Transformer's MyCloud app, you can use it to control your PC or Mac, using the same controls that you would on a laptop.

An Android smartphone on AT&T's network could only install apps from the Android Market.

Why's that?

The official reason, given by AT&T, was that making you get all your apps from the Android Market "forces developers to be accountable for the apps they submit," and "minimizes the risk of malicious apps harming customers." Which is ironic in hindsight because "the mother of all Android malware attacks" didn't come from some dodgy third-party market, but the Android Market itself.

You can install apps from other app markets now. Heck, you could download a beta app from outside the Market and install it like you'd install software on a PC. Anything goes.

As for why? Apparently, AT&T's decided to "be more open," after all the "negative publicity" it got about this. AT&T rep Jeff Bradley would also like you to know that AT&T had your best interests in mind when it disabled a feature on your Android phone, and hopes you won't hold it against his company.

Unlike with operating system updates, like my Aria's earlier upgrade to Android 2.2 "Froyo," you won't be texted to download something for this. Instead, AT&T appears to be quietly streaming updates to your phone, without notifying you.

If you want to see if the upgrade's taken place yet, go to the Settings app on your Android phone, then tap on Applications. If your phone has the upgrade, there will be a new check box, called "Unknown Sources." If this box is checked, you can install apps from outside the Android Market.

Why would I want to do that?

Well, for starters, there's this place called Amazon.com, and I hear they give out a free Android app every day. The kind that would normally cost you money.

Monday, May 23, 2011

We all get stuck in beauty and fashion ruts or don't know how to step it up to the next level. But there are plenty of resources on the Internet or at social media sites like Twitter that can help you get refreshing ideas to upgrade your beauty and fashion knowledge.

Whether you want to learn new techniques to applying makeup or looking for inspirational fashion ideas or advice, there are three sites that I love to check out constantly for tips and trends:

Chriselle Lim

Chriselle is a fashion stylist based out of Los Angeles and her blog at ChriselleInc.com has plenty of information and inspiration to break you out of any fashion rut. Her website features various categories where you can find runway fashions and transform them into everyday styles or even see what's in season and put together an outfit out of things you already own. She shows off new trends and how to wear them and takes beautiful photos that serve as fashion inspiration no matter where you live.

Check out her Closet Confidential, which gives you an inside peek at her own fashions and she offers tips for wearing the current trends and how to pair it with other items in your closet. Runway to Everyday shows you how you can take the looks from fashion runways and find items in your closet to imitate the look or trend.

Before you go shopping, check out her website to see what you need to spice things up in your closet.

I've seen many makeup gurus on YouTube, but none of them compares to Michelle Phan. She started out on YouTube, giving out tutorials on different makeup looks or offering tips to improve your skin and is now the No. 1 makeup expert on the website. She is frequently publishing new videos, so whether you're looking for a clean summer look or want to improve your technique with makeup application, Michelle Phan is the girl to check out.

One thing that helps her stand out is her easy to follow, well-made videos. She explains each step thoroughly so anyone can follow along. No matter what level you are in application, there is something for you on Michelle's page. Whether you want to learn how to apply eyeliner or blend multiple eyeshadow colors, her user-friendly videos are amazing.

Michelle's YouTube tutorials included Day to Night Makeup, which is perfect for anyone who wants to take an everyday look and spice it up for a night out. Looking for the ideal red lipstick for your skin tone? Her Perfect Red Lips video is informative and helpful in making sure you look your best. Whether you want to watch a tutorial on how to create a chic look with purple eyeshadow or make your own facial cleanser, Michelle is educating and inspiring with her collection of tutorials.

I tend to love websites that are a one-stop destination for everyday living and enhancing beauty, health or fashion. One such website, Fab, Fit, Fun was created by E! News personality Giuliana Rancic and has daily updates in categories such as Get Gorgeous, which offers tips and advice for the latest tips and trends, product reviews, tutorials, suggested products and fashion advice from the celebrity herself.

Want something even easier? You can sign up for a newsletter within Fab, Fit, Fun and get ample doses of beauty and fashion advice delivered to your email account daily.

So, there are plenty of websites and tutorials to help you advance you knowledge or take inspiration for fashionable wardrobe choices and they are all free to look through whenever you need to update your look.

There are many types of technology that are constantly working to keep our children safe. Most children now have cell phones, and there are even now GPS devices that can be attached to kids so that even if they wander off we are able to find them. All of these new things have made our children safer, but there is one new type of technology that has made the world more dangerous for our children; and that is social media. Now, even when our kids are home their lives can be invaded by dangerous people. And this is exactly what the state of Louisiana is trying to stop.

A bill that was introduced in the Louisiana House, by Rep. Ledrika Thierry, aims to stop sex offenders from signing up for, or even looking at social media networks. The bill passed the house by a vote of 76-0 and has been sent to the Senate for review. This would be another line of defense for the general public, but especially for the kids.

If you think about it, sex offenders are currently made to register where they live, and many have restrictions on how close to a school they can be, but there are no restrictions on them talking with minors through Facebook or MySpace. These connections that can be made through social media sites are even more dangerous than the connections that these sex offenders in the past would have tried to make in their neighborhood. Now, the public can readily find out anyone's sex offender status and choose to keep their children away from them, but on the internet you never know who is on the other end of the computer.

Kids are also more trusting of everybody who is on sites like Facebook because they haven't been told over and over again what to do if they get a friend request from a person that they don't know, or what to do if a stranger wants to chat with them all of the sudden. Social media savvy has not been taught to our kids like they have been taught about strangers that they meet in their town.

While this type of education should be taught to children to give them the tools to protect themselves while they are surfing the web as well, the first step should be just what Rep. Thierry is trying to do, ban these sex offenders from using these sites that kids are on every day. With the ever changing technology, we have to update our laws to provide adequate protection to our kids.

Lauren Finnegan graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in political science and has an insider's perspective on the military because of her role as a military wife who has lived around the country.

JOPLIN, Mo. -- My trip to Joplin on Sunday afternoon was going to be nothing special. I was just going to pick up a new cell phone and get some treats for my dogs.

But around 5:30 p.m., as I left Northpark Mall on the north side of the city, I saw the menacing clouds in the sky. I turned on the radio when I got in my car and listened as the announcers relayed information about the storms that were in Cherokee County, Kan., at the time.

As I listened, they were predicting the storm was going to go about 5 or 6 miles north of where it actually hit. That meant I would have had to drive through it to go home, so I decided to stay around until it passed.

I went to the Target at Seventh and Range Line (to give you an idea of where that is in relation to the damage, most of it was between 15th and 26th streets). Also in the store were a couple from Neosho, Mo., a town about 25 miles south of Joplin, and a family from Miami, Okla., located about 30 miles to the west.

About 20 minutes after my arrival, the managers told everyone to go to the back of the store by the dressing rooms. We could see the front doors from there. Suddenly, the skies turned from gray to pitch black. Then it sounded like hail was hitting the roof. It lasted about 10 to 15 minutes.

When it passed, we were allowed to leave, but I didn't know which way the storm tracked, so I decided to stay around. So, too, the couples from Neosho and Miami. The store had backup power. The Seventh and Range Line area was untouched. We were the lucky ones.

For some reason, the traffic light at Seventh and Range Line -- Joplin's busiest intersection -- was still working and it was a good thing. We could see cars blowing through the other dark lights. Had they been doing that at Seventh and Range Line, there would have been a 20-car pile-up.

About 30 minutes after the storm, a family of four walked in. The kids were probably 2 and 5 years old. They were carrying a laptop. They said they went into the bathroom in their apartment and it was the only room remaining after the storm passed. That laptop is probably their only remaining possession.

A lot of the Target workers were young, high school age. They did a remarkable job of keeping their cool. But one of them started to get agitated. One of her co-workers got a hold of her and I guess she heard her family was OK. Somehow, most people's cell phones still worked. I had full signal and people who knew where I was, they were texting me.

Another family came in an SUV, the back of which looked as if it had been rear-ended by a semi. The boy who got out with the family said a tree hit it. You could see a branch sticking out the window.

Another guy came in and took off his shirt. He had welts all over his back.

And then people started trickling in. A man walked through the parking lot, pulling a rolling suitcase behind him. The managers handed out candy to the kids and let the people walking in have whatever they wanted from the Starbucks. The food was going to spoil anyway, so they figured might as well hand it out. (A Golden Corral down the road that somehow managed to avoid damage despite being in the "Danger Zone" was offering its food to any workers for the same reason ... get it to people who need it before it goes bad.)

More people trickled in and managers decided to stay open all night. Since a Walmart and a Walgreens were wiped out, people were going to need supplies and they were the closest store to the stricken area that could still operate. They still told the high schoolers and anyone concerned about family to go home.

I left about 8:15. I got in my car and turned the radio back. The group that owns most of the stations were simulcasting on all of them. They were allowing people to call in to ask for information about loved ones. One woman was looking for a 77-year-old woman who lived in the area who needed oxygen. About 20 minutes later, someone else called in to say they had found her and they'd gotten her to somewhere on the north side so she could get her oxygen machine running.

Earlier in the day, I'd been in the area that got hit worst. The images that I've seen since then remind me of what Greensburg, Kan., looked like when I drove through it after the 2007 tornado outbreak.

One fortunate thing: Joplin has two hospitals and they're across the street from each other, so the patients who were in the one that got hit and needed the most care could be taken across the road. Then they started taking the ones hurt not as badly to Springfield and Pittsburg. I've been told the Pittsburg hospital got 44 patients from Joplin in the hour after it was over.

Imagine if someone crossed a smartphone with a game console. It'd have a multitouch screen that'd be great for browsing the web, plus thousands of apps and a huge library of games -- some of them exclusive. Throw in a hardware controller and you're all set.

What does the Xperia Play have going for it in the games department? Well, it does come with seven pre-installed games, including The Sims 3 and Madden NFL 11. And it has its own separate store where you can buy original PSOne games, plus an app for accessing the PlayStation Network. Apple's got a head start with its Game Center, though -- and unlike the PSN, it didn't get hacked and go offline for over a month.

The Hardware

As a smartphone, the Xperia Play is inferior to the iPhone 4, hardware-wise. It's got competitive under-the-hood specs, plus the requisite expandable memory and front-facing camera for video chat. But it also has a glossy, plastic-y shell, and a screen that Engadget reports is "so lacking in brightness that it's borderline dysfunctional." Meanwhile, the iPhone 4 is a spectacular piece of smartphone engineering, and is even available in white.

What does the Xperia Play have going for it? A slide-out gamepad, complete with shoulder buttons and analog touch pads. Which aren't quite the same thing as analog sticks, or even the slider nub used by the PlayStation Portable, but which do let you control games without obscuring the screen with your thumbs. Not all games work with them yet, but the Play has built-in stores (yes, stores) that let you buy games designed for them, including some PSOne classics.

The Verdict

As it stands, there are no "killer games" for the Xperia Play yet. The controller may be a killer feature, but few games work with it right now. Sony seems to be banking on "PlayStation Certified" phones, though, so its library has nowhere to go but up -- and we may well see more of these "PlayStation Phones" in the future.

If you can't decide, both Sony and Apple have given you options that don't need a data plan: If you buy the Xperia Play, you could pick up an iPod Touch for $229 and play any iPhone game on the App Store. And if you go with the iPhone 4, you could buy a PlayStation Portable and get the same PSOne classics from the PSN, plus exclusives like Little Big Planet that the Xperia Play doesn't have.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

There are many types of technology that are constantly working to keep our children safe. Most children now have cell phones, and there are even now GPS devices that can be attached to kids so that even if they wander off we are able to find them. All of these new things have made our children safer, but there is one new type of technology that has made the world more dangerous for our children; and that is social media. Now, even when our kids are home their lives can be invaded by dangerous people. And this is exactly what the state of Louisiana is trying to stop.

A bill that was introduced in the Louisiana House, by Rep. Ledrika Thierry, aims to stop sex offenders from signing up for, or even looking at social media networks. The bill passed the house by a vote of 76-0 and has been sent to the Senate for review. This would be another line of defense for the general public, but especially for the kids.

If you think about it, sex offenders are currently made to register where they live, and many have restrictions on how close to a school they can be, but there are no restrictions on them talking with minors through Facebook or MySpace. These connections that can be made through social media sites are even more dangerous than the connections that these sex offenders in the past would have tried to make in their neighborhood. Now, the public can readily find out anyone's sex offender status and choose to keep their children away from them, but on the internet you never know who is on the other end of the computer.

Kids are also more trusting of everybody who is on sites like Facebook because they haven't been told over and over again what to do if they get a friend request from a person that they don't know, or what to do if a stranger wants to chat with them all of the sudden. Social media savvy has not been taught to our kids like they have been taught about strangers that they meet in their town.

While this type of education should be taught to children to give them the tools to protect themselves while they are surfing the web as well, the first step should be just what Rep. Thierry is trying to do, ban these sex offenders from using these sites that kids are on every day. With the ever changing technology, we have to update our laws to provide adequate protection to our kids.

Lauren Finnegan graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in political science and has an insider's perspective on the military because of her role as a military wife who has lived around the country.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Full disclosure: I'm an Android fan. I bought an HTC Aria on AT&T's network, before Verizon got the iPhone. I like how Android phones work, I like that I can customize them, and I like that the Android operating system is open-source -- I even run Ubuntu on my laptop.

Having said that, I've noticed we Android fans tend to do, say, and believe stuff that's hard for most people to swallow. Especially iPhone fans, who often have a totally different idea of what makes a good smartphone. So here's some friendly advice, for me and my fellow Android fans!

Good taste is, in fact, a feature.

And as Marco Arment explains in Feature Checklist Dysfunction, "It would be ignorant and arrogant for me to presume that your priorities are anything like mine."

Part of the reason I bought my HTC Aria was because of how classy its hardware was, and because of how nice HTC Sense looked. I'm betting a lot of people buy iPhones and iPads for the same reason -- and a lot of us make fun of them for caring about "style over substance," or choosing a phone to "impress girls/guys" or something.

I feel like the odd one out for saying this, but style is a part of substance. People are buying most of these phones on two-year contracts; the way that they look and feel is an important consideration. I like my Aria's look and feel better than I like the iPhone's, and that's one of the reasons I bought it.

Yes, I know Android lets you change the home screens all around, and make it look and feel how you want it to (at least software-wise). But the thing is,

OK, to be honest, the impression I get is that most people do like to personalize their smartphones. It's just that for them, to "personalize" means to change the wallpaper and ringtone, not root their phone and install CyanogenMod.

When AT&T messed up my Aria in its software update, I was glad that Android allowed me to change my home screen to one that wasn't ruined. To get it just right, though, I had to swim through ADW Launcher's pages and pages of options. And I wasn't discovering cool features, so much as trying to figure out how to turn off the things that annoyed me.

I think it's great that we get to change stuff around on our phones like this, but I didn't like being forced to.

I write articles that compare "Android vs. Apple," but I always take pains to explain what Android is: An operating system, mostly written by Google. A component, that companies like HTC use to make tablets and smartphones.

Maybe most Android gadgets seem interchangeable right now, thanks to a lack of creativity on the part of the manufacturers. But devices like the Nook Color show what it's possible to stretch Android to do, with a bit of knowhow and polish. And not everyone knows what Android itself is yet, or why they should look for a phone that uses the friendly green robot mascot.

Hopefully we can give them some good reasons, that appeal to their priorities and not just ours.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Emergency preparedness is usually a dry topic and not a frequently searched term, especially by young adults and teens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a fresh approach that changed that. On May 16, the CDC posted "Zombie Apocalypse," a social media blog post about disaster preparedness aimed at a young audience.

Dr. Ali Khan, of the CDC's Public Health and Preparedness Center, created the post as a less-than-mundane attempt to get the American public interested in the important topic of disaster preparedness, reports Yahoo! News.

The usual response from the public to posts from the center average 1,000 to 3,000 per week. In the first 24 hours of the Zombie Apocalypse being posted, it received 30,000 hits. By May 20, the site had received almost 1 million hits, with Internet traffic showing no signs of abatement.

So baby boomers, if your children and grandchildren are suddenly showing an interest in what to do in case of disaster striking, you can thank the CDC. Readers of the site now know not only how to respond to a zombie apocalypse, but natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and the like.

The Public Health and Preparedness Center's post has been such a hit that the plethora of incoming hits crashed the blog site earlier this week. How savvy of the usual staid and matter-of-fact federal agency to tap into a common interest of teens and young adults, and using a venue that is as natural to those generations as is breathing.

Thanks to a great public relations campaign, hundreds of thousands of Americans know the importance of having a plan in place before an emergency happens, whether that emergency comes in the form of the living dead or one of Mother Nature's creations. Many people know now that an emergency preparedness kit should contain one gallon of water for each person per day; prescription and over-the-counter medications frequently used should be stored; and nonperishable food items should also be part of the kit.

More detailed information is available at the CDC's Emergency Preparedness and Response page. This might be the first time in the history of zombies that they've saved people's lives instead of taking them.

A Facebook page dedicated to the notorious Houston serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley has been taken down on behalf of the state of Texas and the sister of one of Henley's victims, Cindi Yates, according to KHOU.

Yates' brother, Danny, was one of the victims of a serial killer ring that consisted of Henley, a teenager at the time of the killing spree; David Brooks, another youth; and Dean Corll, a man in his 30s at the time. Henley and Brooks are serving life sentences for their participation in a series of rape/torture/murders that took place between 1970 and 1973 in Houston, Texas.

Inmates in the Texas prison system are not allowed Internet access, so it is presumed that the offending Facebook page was put up by a friend or admirer of Henley.

According to "The Man with the Candy," an account of the murders, Henley and his friend Brooks met while in high school in 1970. Brooks introduced Henley to Corll, perhaps as an intended victim. Instead Henley joined Brooks in luring young boys to Corll's apartment where they were bound, raped, tortured, and murdered. Most of the bodies were buried in a boat shed owned by Corll near the childhood home of this writer.

The killing spree ended on August 8, 1973, when Henley shot Corll dead during an altercation involving the presence of a girl in the Corll apartment. Henley subsequently confessed to the police that he and Brooks had been paid $200 to lure boys to Corll's apartment. Some 28 boys were eventually found to have been murdered by Corll.

Henley was convicted to a life sentence in 1974 of the murder of six boys he had personally lured to Corll's apartment. The conviction was overturned on appeal in 1978. Henley was retried and reconvicted in 1979 to six life sentences. Though he was first eligible for parole in 1980, it is very unlikely that he will ever breathe free air again.

The Cori/Henley/Brooks murders were one of the most celebrated serial killing cases of the 20th century predating both Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. The idea of people committing murders, especially with a sadistic sexual aspect, was a new phenomenon for the public in the 1970s. The story was covered by Houston media for many months, with every gory detail examined.

In the 21st century, serial killers are now just part of the media and cultural landscape, with TV shows like "Criminal Minds" and "Dexter" devoted to the subject. But people who kill to satisfy some dark, twisted urge are real, as is the suffering of their victims. Elmer Wayne Henley helped to bring that reality to public consciousness almost forty years ago.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Friday, May 20, 2011

COMMENTARY | Who knew, when it first came out, that the iPhone would be so popular with gamers? Epic Games, ID Software, EA and Square-Enix already have games on the App Store, some of them truly -- well, epic. Even the iPad's getting some gaming love, from "Plants vs. Zombies" to analog joystick attachments.

The Xperia Play has some truly impressive specs. It doesn't have a dual-core processor, but it has as much RAM as an XBox 360, the standard front-facing camera, and between six and eight hours of talk time. Its screen is almost as sharp as the iPhone's, and it comes with unique Android features, such as Google Voice Search and the latest Google apps.

What makes it a PlayStation phone, though, are its gaming features -- like a slide-out controller with shoulder buttons and analog thumbpads, plus apps that let you buy PlayStation games and access the PlayStation Network. And it's not just 10-year-old classic games that are being featured on the Xperia Play,either; over 60 games are being sold through its built-in store, including exclusives, and the Android Market has its own gaming section.

Even companies that develop games for both platforms typically write for the iPhone first, and for Android much later (if at all). Square-Enix's called "Chaos Rings," that is an iPhone/iPod/iPad exclusive.

A game-changer?

Sony seems to be embracing Android because, unlike other game companies, it makes a lot of its money from gaming hardware rather than the games themselves. Convergence devices like smartphones are where things are heading, and Android does a lot of the heavy lifting of making a smartphone. Hence, the "PlayStation Phone."

Unlike Sony, gamers aren't tied to hardware platforms, and are free to choose which device they want to game on. So the question is, does the Xperia Play offer anything that could induce gamers to buy it over the iPhone?

The slider controller is a neat touch, and Sony's clearly committed to Android for the foreseeable future. That means more games, and more "PlayStation Certified" phones, are coming. The iPhone is where smartphone gamers are right now, though, which leaves Sony with an uphill battle ahead of it.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Online social networking service LinkedIn is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday with a value of at least $4 billion, making it the biggest initial public offering by a U.S. Internet company since Google went public in 2004. The company is the first U.S. social networking website to go public.

In its initial public offering, the company set the price range for shares at $32 to $35. On Tuesday, however, the 8-year-old Mountain View, Calif.-based social networking firm boosted the price of its IPO by 30 percent to a new range of $42 to $45 per share, indicating the demand among investors for social networking companies is fierce.

The company plans to set the IPO price tonight and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the symbol "LNKD."

Some analysts believe the new price may be a bit too steep, and that LinkedIn's future is far from secure. One of the chief reasons why some observers are skeptical about LinkedIn's future financial prospects is that the company fully admits it does not expect to be profitable in 2011 based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

In addition, technology companies are vulnerable to being displaced. For example, the social networking site MySpace was once the darling of the industry and highly favored. However, it has since become completely overshadowed by Facebook.

There is also the possibility that LinkedIn could be blocked, which could severely hinder its growth. This has already happened in China, where millions of LinkedIn users have been temporarily prevented from using the site.

Another concern is that, unlike other social networking sites, which make most of their money from online advertising sales, LinkedIn's chief source of revenue comes from a sales force that solicits business directly from businesses and resellers. In 2010, LinkedIn pulled in 56 percent of its net revenue from field sales, while only 44 percent of its net revenue came from online sales.

Meanwhile, the Big Four Web firms -- Facebook, Twitter, Groupon and Zynga -- are expected to follow LinkedIn's example and go public in the near future -- with enormous valuations.

Sony is busy restoring the PlayStation Network to a useable level after hackers gained access and stole personal data from 100 million users including credit card numbers. The PlayStation Network has been offline for almost a month. Analysts believe the breach will cost Sony around $1 billion, which would make it one of the most expensive cyberattacks in history. In an effort to thank customers, and perhaps retain users, the company has even offered free video games and other services as incentives. While the breach is a huge blow to Sony and the customers, it is not the first major hacking of information from a large company.

MasterCard International 2005

In summer 2005, 40 million credit card numbers were stolen from a processing center in Tucson, Ariz., operated by CardSystems Solutions. Once the breach became public, MasterCard accused CardSystems of meeting previously specified computer security standards. In this particular attack, no personal data, such as social security numbers and birthdates, was compromised.

Epsilon 2011

Earlier this year, Epsilon, a company used by businesses to send emails to customers, was hacked. The cyberthieves received access to millions of customer names and email addresses. Because Epsilon has more than 2,500 clients and sends billions of emails a year, the information could be used by thieves to send emails to customers of businesses like: Best Buy, Capitol One, TiVo, and Marriott Rewards. Fortunately, the stolen information was limited to names and/or email addresses.

Jason Gallagher is a former travel professional and long-time Pennsylvania resident. These experiences give him a first-hand look at developing situations in the state and everything included in the travel industry from technology to trends.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Everyone knows about the iPad, that "magical" new product from Apple that's been taking over the world with its charm and simplicity. But what are these new things the electronics stores are pushing at you, that look like the iPad but aren't?

These "tablets" are made by manufacturers like Acer and Motorola, and are powered by Google's Android operating system. That means they work a bit differently, with a series of persistent on-screen buttons and menus instead of a single home button. But the biggest difference? Android tablets can't run any of the iPad's 65,000 apps.

Wait, so these "tablets" have no apps? Are you kidding me?

They can't run any iPad apps.

Websites work more or less the same, on either an Android tablet or an iPad. But apps have to be specially written to work on one or the other. This is because they use different programming languages, plus Android apps kinda have to be made to work on any Android tablet, from small 7-inch tablets to widescreens. IPad apps basically just need to work on the one iPad.

That sounds like a lot of work to do for Android.

It is, especially if you're used to writing for iPads. App developers would do it willingly if the rewards were worth it, but so far they aren't; people aren't making a whole lot of money from app sales for Android at all.

If free and paid app developers can't make money, who does that leave?

First is Google itself. Google's made special tablet versions of some of its apps, like a 3d version of Google Maps and a YouTube app with a panoramic wall of videos. There's also the free Google Body app, which is an interactive 3d model of human anatomy.

Second are a few big-name companies, like CNN and CNBC. A few companies have been quick to write apps for Android tablets, which let people who own them stay connected to these companies' offerings.

Smartphones are the new black. Seemingly everyone has one, and the people who don't have one want one. Unfortunately, in order to get most smartphones you have to sign away a good chunk of your income, for the next one or two years. Even if the plans were reasonably priced (they aren't), those contracts should make you think twice, especially in this day and age.

Apple gives students, teens, and people who can't afford a data plan an easy alternative: The iPod Touch, which is basically an iPhone minus the phone. You can buy one for a little more than $200 off-contract, and it runs the same apps that an iPhone does. IPod Touches are Wi-Fi only, though, so you can't get a data plan for one without buying an accessory. Plus, they don't run Android, and while iOS has its advantages there are a lot of Android fans out there, too.

Fortunately, there are a few Android smartphones out there that are cheaper than an iPod Touch, even unsubsidized. And you can add a data plan to them on a month-by-month basis, without having to sign a contract.

I'm personally not a fan of AT&T's wireless service, but even I sat up and took notice when I saw the LG Thrive coming out. It runs Android 2.2 "Froyo," and looks like a serviceable no-contract Android phone. Having played with one in person, I don't think it's as classy as my HTC Aria (with its rubberized back), but the MicroSD card door that you don't need to take off the back to get to is a nice touch.

The LG Thrive is a GoPhone, meaning it uses AT&T's pay-as-you-go voice minutes and texting packages. But AT&T's also introduced pay-as-you-go data, so you can mix-and-match voice, data and texting to put together a package that's right for you. I got my monthly phone bill down to $15, although I've had to pay $30 this month because I was making heavy use of data while apartment hunting.

These Android smartphones are sold off-contract through Virgin Mobile, which uses Sprint's wireless network. The Optimus V is basically identical to the Thrive, but Virgin Mobile's plans aren't; unlimited data and texting starts at just $25 a month, with 300 anytime minutes included. If you don't need many voice minutes, that beats the pants off of GoPhone's data plans.

The Samsung Intercept is sold by Virgin alongside the Optimus V, and includes a slide-out hardware keyboard. But most reviews of it seem to be negative (sometimes comically so), so I'm just including it for the sake of completeness.

On the plus side, it's the cheapest device on this list, and it doesn't require a contract. At less than half the price of a new iPod Touch, it just might be worth considering, even if you're a fan of Apple's products.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.